Race and Policing

Again and again the data show that people of color in the U.S. are disproportionately, and systematically, stopped, frisked, arrested, and exposed to the use of force by police. Police departments and communities across the U.S. are struggling with these realities and with what has become a glaring divide in how Americans experience and relate to policing.

This special collection includes research from nonprofits, foundations, and university based research centers, who have not only described and documented the issue but who also provide much-needed recommendations for addressing this chronic and tragic problem.

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This new ACLU white paper, "Bullies in Blue: Origins and Consequences of School Policing," explores the beginnings of school policing in the United States and sheds light on the negative consequences of the increasing role of police and links it to both the drivers of punitive criminal justice policies and mass incarceration nationwide. The report traces a line back to the struggle to end Jim Crow segregation during the civil rights movement, and challenges assumptions that the function of police in schools is to protect children. It posits that police are police, and in schools they will act as police, and in those actions bring the criminal justice system into our schools and criminalizing our kids.

The evidence for racial disparities in the criminal justice system is well documented. The disproportionate racial impact of certain laws and policies, as well as biased decision making by justice system actors, leads to higher rates of arrest and incarceration in low-income communities of color. However, there is no evidence that these widely disproportionate rates of criminal justice contact and incarceration are making us safer. This brief presents an overview of the ways in which America's history of racism and oppression continues to manifest in the criminal justice system, and a summary of research demonstrating how the system perpetuates the disparate treatment of black people. The evidence presented here helps account for the hugely disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on millions of black people, their families, and their communities.

The Student Safety Act (SSA) requires that the New York City Police Department publically issue quarterly reports on arrests, summonses, and other police-involved incidents in New York City public schools.i The 2017 calendar year is the second year in which the NYPD reported on activity in schools by officers outside of the School Safety Division, giving a more complete picture of the impact police have on the educational environment. iiSince 2012, the number of arrests and summonses issued by School Safety Officers (SSOs) has consistently declined. In 2017, SS0s were responsible for less than 15% of arrests and 2% of summonses. However, the vast majority of police interactions with students in school are not with the school safety officers specially trained to work with youth in schools, but with other law enforcement officials, including armed patrol officers. In addition, 366 arrests (29% of total arrests in schools) were for incidents that occured off school grounds and had no relationship to the school, indicating that police may be using schools as a place to locate and arrest young people for non-school related offenses. This practice sends the harmful message that kids in trouble should stay away from school.The School Safety Division has made a significant effort to reduce the use of summonses for non-criminal offenses. In 2017 they issued just 18 summonses, down from 1,275 in 2012. Summonses for disorderly conduct, including unreasonable noise, fighting and obscene language, are not an appropriate response to student misbehavior. However, precinct officers are not required to follow the same procedures as the School Safety Division, and officers issued nearly 900 summonses, sending children into the criminal justice system for misbehavior.Black and Latino students continue to bear the burden of arrests, summonses, and police interactions in school, and the city has failed its responsibility to reduce the racial disparities in its school safety program. Black and Latino students represent 66.9 % of the student body, but 90.2% of arrests and 89.3% of summonses in school. They also accounted for 88.4% of child-in-crisis incidents, 87.9% of juvenile reports, and 89.5% of mitigated incidents. Students of color were also more likely than white students to be handcuffed for school misbehavior, even where there is no criminal activity. Black and Latino students accounted for 92.5% of juvenile reports and 94.4% of mitigated incidents where handcuffs were used, as well as 93.4% of child-in-crisis incidents where handcuffs were used.

As the annual number of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa to both the United States and Europe has grown for most years this decade, a Pew Research Center analysis of 2015 U.S. Census Bureau and Eurostat data finds that sub-Saharan immigrants in the U.S. tend to be more highly educated than those living in the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Portugal – Europe's historically leading destinations among sub-Saharan immigrants.
In the U.S., 69% of sub-Saharan immigrants ages 25 and older in 2015 said they had at least some college experience. In the same year, the share in the UK who reported some college experience was 49%, while it was lower still in France (30%), Portugal (27%) and Italy (10%).
Immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa living in the U.S. are also somewhat more likely to be employed than their counterparts in Portugal, France and Italy. In 2015, 92.9% of U.S.-based sub-Saharan immigrants said they had a paying job, compared with 84.9% in Portugal, 83.7% in France and 80.3% in Italy. Meanwhile, the share of sub-Saharan immigrants in the UK who are working (91.5%) was nearly equal to that in the U.S.
The U.S., UK, France, Italy and Portugal are some of the top destinations of sub-Saharan migrants living outside of sub-Saharan Africa. As of 2015, however, more than two-thirds (69%) of migrants from sub-Saharan countries actually lived in other sub-Saharan African countries.
Together, the U.S., UK, France, Italy and Portugal were home to more than half (57%) of the sub-Saharan migrant population living outside sub-Saharan Africa in 2015, according to global migrant population estimates from the United Nations. And the four European countries featured in this report accounted for roughly three-quarters (74%) of all sub-Saharan immigrants living in EU countries, Norway and Switzerland in the same year.
Historically, sub-Saharan immigrants have made up small shares of the total population in the U.S., UK, France, Italy and Portugal – 3% or less in each country, as of 2015. But annual migration to the U.S. and Europe from sub-Saharan Africa rose most years this decade. In all, well more than a million sub-Saharans have migrated to the U.S. and to EU countries, Norway and Switzerland since 2010. Migration pressures for some sub-Saharans to leave Africa are expected to continue as the continent's population grows, young people struggle to find employment and protracted conflicts continue.

Some cities have harnessed economic recoveries to improve on inclusion, or the opportunity for all residents—particularly historically excluded populations—to benefit from and contribute to economic prosperity. In this report, we conduct the first empirical analysis of how economic health and inclusion interact in US cities over several decades. We report on trends in economic health and inclusion across many cities and within a smaller subset of cities that have experienced an economic recovery. To better understand whether and how an economic recovery can support inclusive outcomes, we delve deeper into four cities that improved on inclusion measures during their recovery. Through discussions with individuals, an in-person convening, and a review of literature, we identify key lessons and common building blocks that can support progress on inclusion during a city's economic recovery.

Alabama's future competitiveness depends on the participation and inclusion of all of our residents,especially those who are locked out of the economy. Employment equity—when everyone who wants to work has a good job that pays family-supporting wages—is the path forward. By addressing lingering societal barriers such as adequate funding for public transit that connects residents to quality jobs, and linking more Alabamians to career pathways in growing industries, we can reduce economic insecurity, meet employers' needs for talent, and bolster economic growth, building a prosperous Alabama for all.

This report, Advancing Employment Equity in Alabama, offers a framework to guide policymakers as they consider how to best connect residents to good jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and remove the barriers that have held back far too many for far too long. The Alabama Asset Building Coalition is prepared to be a partner in this effort and further our mission of building an economic foundation that allows underserved Alabamians to reach their highest potential and secure their financial future.

For decades, the United States of America has employed mass incarceration as a convenient answer to inconvenient questions. These policies have produced dramatic rates of incarceration, with a particularly disproportionate impact on communities of color. In addition to the range of harmful consequences to people of color, mass incarceration has been a failed policy in regard to public safety outcomes. Research has documented that the effect of imprisonment on crime rates has been modest, and that at current levels the scale of incarceration is well past the point of diminishing returns for public safety. Mass incarceration has diverted resources from prevention and treatment initiatives that could have produced far more effective approaches to crime reduction.In recent years, the U.S. government has addressed some of the glaring racial inequalities that permeate every aspect of its criminal justice system, but these efforts have been relatively modest in scope. The government continues to both foster and perpetuate inequalities in clear violation of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as other international agreements.The proliferation of racial disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system has a profound impact on the lives of people of color. Behind each statistic lies the face of a young black man or woman whose potential has been cut short by a harsh prison sentence mandated by draconian drug laws. Behind each percentage point lies the face of a Latina child who will only know her parents through hurried, awkward visits in a prison visitation room. Behind each dataset lies a community of color bereft of hope because its young people have been locked away.It is the human face—a face of color—of the racial injustice of the United States criminal justice system that is the most compelling reason for reform. It is time for the United States to take affirmative steps to eliminate the racial disparities in its criminal justice system.

Across New York State tens of thousands of New Yorkers are held in city and county jails, not because they have been convicted of a crime, but because they cannot afford to pay for their release while awaiting trial.
The harms of unaffordable cash bail are unequivocal: people lose their jobs, homes and families while detained. People also forfeit their rights to trial when pleading guilty in exchange for release. Yet little has been known about how many people across the state have been locked up because they did not have the means to pay bail, about the charges they faced or how long they were kept in jail.
To better understand the impact of bail practices in New York, in 2015 the New York Civil Liberties Union sent Freedom of Information Law requests to a sample of eight small, medium and large counties across the state asking for five years of data. The information we received offers a stark glimpse into what New Yorkers have had to endure.

This report explores the attitudes and experiences of two groups of adults. The first are those who are self-identified Hispanics. This is the usual group of Hispanics that are profiled in Pew Research Center and Census Bureau reports and are reported on as a distinct racial/ethnic group. Throughout the report, this group is labelled as "Self-identified Hispanics." The second are those who have Hispanic ancestry but do not consider themselves Hispanic –i.e., self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry. This is the first time this group's opinions, attitudes and views have been studied in depth. Throughout the report, this second group is referred to as "self-identified non-Hispanics" or "self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry." Racial and ethnic identity on surveys and in the U.S. decennial census is measured by respondents' self-reports. Any survey respondent who says they are Hispanic is counted as Hispanic, and those who say they are not Hispanic are not counted as such. This practice has been in place on the census since 1980 for Hispanic identity and since 1970 for racial identity.

This report, prepared on behalf of the San Francisco District Attorney by Quattrone Center affiliate John MacDonald and Steven Raphael, examines sources of racial disparity in criminal justice outcomes in San Francisco, complementing prior work on this topic completed by the Center on behalf of the San Francisco Public Defender. It finds that substantial disparities exist, but most can be explained by preexisting factors occurring prior to the lodging of cases with the district attorney's office. Moreover, racial disparities have narrowed since the passage of California Proposition 47 in November 2014.

The United States and New Jersey face a mass incarceration crisis. Although New Jersey has seen a recent decline in its incarcerated population, close to 35,000 people are still housed in its prisons and jails. In fact, despite the recent decline, the size of New Jersey's prison population increased by 278 percent between 1975 and 2015.

The NAACP has established internal policy objectives for education reform. A number ofthose policy objectives coincide with aspects of ESSA. The purpose of this toolkit is to explain the new laws, methods and grants integrated into the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as a result of the amendments brought in by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. In the end, we aim to equip NAACP units with the knowledge to help our constituents access the benefits promised under ESSA to improve schools within their jurisdiction. This toolkit also provides information on civil rights approaches to addressing education equity challenges. In doing so, we hope we improve public schools in every neighborhood through a combination of local, state and national activism and community engagement.

We reviewed 10,753 complete case records, consisting of cases between 2011 and 2014, from the San Francisco Public Defender's Office. These data were stored in the Public Defender's GIDEON case management system, which draws from data maintained by the San Francisco County Superior Court's larger case management system database. Unlike previous studies that rely solely on arrest and conviction data, these records cover the entire pretrial process, providing a richer portrait of the experiences of defendants in the criminal justice system. These data can help policymakers and stakeholders understand whether racial disparities exist in the outcomes of San Francisco criminal cases, including cases resolved by plea bargains , and how bargaining affects disparities in other areas of the criminal justice system, such as corrections. Where disparities were seen, we sought to understand them and to evaluate what changes could be made to ensure that similarly situate d individuals receive equal and race - neutral treatment in the criminal justice system. Such information could assist the Public Defender, the San Francisco District Attorney, the San Francisco Police Department, and other criminal justice stakeholders to ensure equitable treatment of all San Franciscans.

Native youth were three times as likely to be incarcerated as white youth, according to data collected in October 2015 by the Department of Justice and recently released. The disparity has increased since 2001 when Native youth were roughly two-and-a-half times as likely to be detained or committed to juvenile facilities.

While a large majority of Americans rate police officers positively on a 0-to-100 "feeling thermometer," whites and blacks differ widely in their views, including among Democrats, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in August.

In the United States, the Black community bears the greatest burden of the HIV epidemic, more than any other racial or ethnic group. While African Americans represent just 12% of the total population, they account for 41% of all people living with HIV and 44% of all new infections. In fact, if the African-American community were its own country, it would rank 11th in the world for new HIV infections. Today, the HIV epidemic is one of the most pressing health issues facing the Black community.
To address the urgent need for action, The Black Church & HIV initiative was established to form a national network of faith leaders, religious institutions, and community members committed to making change and ending the HIV epidemic in Black America. There is an immediate need for faith leaders to take action for what is happening with HIV in the Black community. For generations, the Black Church has been a leader for change in the Black community on issues of social justice, including voting rights and employment opportunities. Today, we are applying this tradition of social justice advocacy to the HIV epidemic.
The NAACP, in partnership with Gilead Sciences, Inc., made a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Commitment to Action in 2013 to further the initiative and enlist faith leaders as change agents to address the disparate and severe impact of HIV on African Americans. The initiative is working to overcome stigma and address HIV as an issue of social justice by:
Conducting faith leader trainings across the 30 U.S. cities with the greatest HIV burden
Obtaining formal resolutions from mainline denominations to incorporate HIV messaging into Church activities
Integrating HIV-related materials into required course curricula in predominantly Black seminaries.

Despite long-term declines in youth incarceration, the disparity at which black and white youth are held in juvenile facilities has grown. As of 2015, African American youth were five times as likely as white youth to be detained or committed to youth facilities.

While 68% of white Americans have a favorable view of the police, only 40% of African Americans and 59% of Hispanics have a favorable view.1 Attitudes have changed little since the 1970s when 67% of whites and 43% of blacks reported favorable views of the police. 2 Racial minorities do not have monolithic attitudes toward the police. This report finds that Hispanics' perceptions of police occupy a "middle ground" between black and white Americans' views.

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